Process of and apparatus foe extracting crystallized



(No Model). T -B 'YAL-E V PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR. EXTRAQTINGCEYSTALLIZBD V SUGAR FROM BAGASSB. v 7' No. 293,838. f Patentefi Pgb';19, 1884.".

r WITNESSES: I

ATTORNEYS.

" NI-TED STATES {PAT NT OFFICE.

THQMASBLOSSOM YALE; on COLUMBIA, TEXAS.

PROCESS oF AND APPARATUS FOR EXTRACT lNG CBYSTALLIZED SUGAR FROM BAIGASSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 293,838,-dated February 19, 1884.

I Application filed May29, 1883. (No model.)

To 01. whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, TnoMAs B. YALE, of Columbia, Brazoria county, and State of Texas, have invented a new and'Improved Process of and Apparatus for Extracting Juice and Crystallized Sugar from Bagasse, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

By the method commonly used for extracting juice from sugarcane-that is to say, by the use of rollers-only from forty to sixty per cent. of the juice is recovered and none of the crystallized sugar. l

The object of my inventionis to save apercentage ofthis loss'in the juice, and also to secure a part, if not all, of the crystallized sugar from the refuse or bagasse or from any other plant producing saccharine matter. To that end- I subject the bagasse to a process which extracts the remaining juice and the crystallized sugar by suction and atmospheric pressure, and use for that purpose the apparatus hereinafter specified.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures.

Figure 1 is aside elevation of the apparatu which I employ, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the hoisting-gear.

A is a suitable frame, supporting a cylinder,

B, that is fitted at its lower end with a hinged bottom, 0. I

D D are clamps for retaining the hinged bottom closed. p

E is a piston or plunger, made to fit the bore of the cylinder, and fitted for being raised and lowered by a double rack, G, and pinions FF.

On the axis of one of the pinions is a chain wheel, H, from which a chain, J, passes to .a'

ure.

The rack G is formed at opposite sides with ribs or wings O, passing through guide-plates P P, and the rack is of a length to allow the piston to descend to the bottom of the cylinder.

In the operation, the bagasse, after being placed in the cylinder B and the piston or" plunger lowered thereon, is treated by the admission of steam under pressure to the cylinder by a pipe at t. The steam will penetrate every part of the fiber and the cells of the crushed cane, and expand the same, so that every particle of the crystallized sugar becomes exposed to the action of the moist steam, and the sugar crystals will be dissolved to a liquid form, ready to be extracted with the juice by the .next operation. The air-pun1p connected to the cylinder by the pipe 8 is then put in operation after. the steam is shut off to exhaust the air in the cylinder and draw the juice and dissolved crystals of sugar therefrom, after which the air-pump is shut off, the

bottom of the cylinder is let down,and the material forced out bymoving the plunger E downward.

During the operation of the air-pump the plunger will be carried down by atmospheric pressure, thereby compacting the material in the cylinder and aiding in forcing the juice to escape. Y 1

For breaking thevacuum when the material is to be removed, a stop-cock maybe provided in the cylinder.

I am aware that a process of extracting the juice frolnsugar-cane, which consists in first reducing the cane to short lengths, then heatv ing it by the direct action of steam in a closed chamber, and, finally, subjecting it to pressure, has heretofore been employed, and I therefore lay no claim to such invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure'by Letters Patent- 1. The herein-described process for extracting juice and crystallized sugar from crushed saccharine material, consisting in subjecting said saccharine material in a closed vessel to the action of steam, and then extracting the in the cylinder exceeds the atmospheric press- I saccharine material by means of a vacuum, as the cylinder 13, having the hinged bottom 0 set forth. and clamps D, and provided with the air and In an apparatus for extractingjuiee from steam pipes s and t, of the piston E, rack G, saccharine materials, the combination, with l pinions F,ratchet-wheelsK,pawls L,and means I 5 the cylinder 13, having the hinged bottom 0 l for operating the pinions and pawls, substanand clamps D, and provided with the air and tially as shown and described. steam pipes s z, of the piston 15, rack G, pinw l I ions F, and means for operating said pinions, 1 [AS BLGSSOM YALE substantially as shown and described. Witnesses: 1o 3. In an apparatus for extractingjuice from T. L. SMlTlI,

saccharine materials, the combination, with Jxo. H. CRAIG. 

